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“I was disappointed that they weren't paying attention to these other issues,” said Dr. Jack Mayer of his reaction to the decision.

He placed one of those anti-pipeline posters outside his Colonial Drive home about eight months ago.

Mayer doesn't believe the pipeline is as green as the state thinks because the gas it will carry is harvested in Canada by a process called fracking.

“Fracked gas contributes to climate change. We know that the methane that's released is a very potent greenhouse gas and we shouldn't be supporting that,” said Mayer.

Meanwhile, at the Middlebury Inn, General Manager Geoffrey Conrad is praising the board’s ruling and thinking about the work to be done now that the pipeline is approved.

“There's a substantial amount of money to convert our boilers to natural gas and to convert our cooking equipment in the kitchen and our dryers in the laundry have to be converted from propane to natural gas as well,” said Conrad, who adds he believe the investment is worth it because the switch to natural gas is expected to dramatically cut the inn's fuel costs.

“Our propane and heating oil expenses each year are over $100,000 and they're projecting 50 percent savings,” said Conrad.

No matter the perceived pros and cons, the pipeline isn't expected to make it to Middlebury until at least 2015.